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May Sinclair
| birth_place = Rock Ferry, Cheshire | death_date = November | death_place = Buckinghamshire, England | occupation = Novelist and poet | genre = | movement = | signature = | influences = | influenced = }} May Sinclair was the pseudonym of Mary Amelia St. Clair (24 August 1863 - 14 November 1946), a popular English poet, novelist, and short story writer who wrote about two dozen novels.Bookrags biography She was an active suffragist, and member of the Woman Writers' Suffrage League. Sinclair was also a significant literary critic, in the area of modernist poetry and prose, and is credited with first using the term stream of consciousness) in a literary context, when reviewing the first volumes of Dorothy Richardson's novel sequence Pilgrimage (1915–67), in The Egoist, April 1918. Life Youth Sinclair was born in Rock Ferry, Cheshire. Her father was a Liverpool shipowner, who went bankrupt, became an alcoholic, and died before she was an adult. Her mother was strict and religious; the family moved to Ilford on the edge of London. After one year of education at Cheltenham Ladies College, Sinclair acted as caretaker for her brothers, as four of the five, all older, were suffering from a fatal congenital heart disease. Career From 1896 she wrote professionally, to support herself and her mother, who died in 1901. Besides novels, she also wrote non-fiction based on studies of philosophy, particularly German idealism. Her works sold well in the United States. Around 1913, at the Medico-Psychological Clinic in London, she became interested in psychoanalytic thought, and introduced matter related to Sigmund Freud's teaching in her novels. In 1914, she volunteered to join the Munro Ambulance Corps, a charitable organization (which included Lady Dorothie Feilding, Elsie Knocker, and Mairi Chisholm) that aided wounded Belgian]] soldiers on the Western Front in Flanders. She was sent home after only a few weeks at the front; she wrote about the experience in both prose and poetry. She wrote early criticism on Imagism and the poet H.D. (1915 in The Egoist); she was on social terms with H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), Richard Aldington and Ezra Pound at the time. She also reviewed in a positive light the poetry of T.S. Eliot (1917 in the Little Review) and the fiction of Dorothy Richardson (1918 in The Egoist). It was in connection with Richardson that she introduced the literary term "stream of consciousness," which was generally adopted. She was included in the 1925 Contact Collection of Contemporary Writers. She was a member of the Society for Psychical Research from 1914. From the late 1920s Sinclair was suffering from the early signs of Parkinson's disease, and ceased writing. She settled with a companion in Buckinghamshire in 1932. Writing An active feminist, Sinclair treated a number of themes relating to the position of women, and marriage.Gary Crawford, "May Sinclair" in Jack Sullivan (ed) (1986) The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, Viking Press, 1986, ISBN 0-670-80902-0 (pp. 387-8). Some aspects of Sinclair's subsequent novels have been traced as influenced by modernist techniques, particularly in the autobiographical Mary Olivier: A life (1919). Sinclair wrote two volumes of supernatural fiction, Uncanny Stories (1923) and The Intercessor, and other stories (1931). Gary Crawford has stated that Sinclair's contribution to the supernatural fiction genre, "small as it is, is notable". Jacques Barzun included Sinclair among a list of supernatural fiction writers that "one should make a point of seeking out".Jacques Barzun, "Introduction" to The Penguin Encyclopedia of Horror and the Supernatural, xxviii. Print. Brian Stableford has stated that Sinclair's "supernatural tales are written with uncommon delicacy and precision, and they are among the most effective examples of their fugitive kind."Brian Stableford, "Sinclair, May" in David Pringle, ed., St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost and Gothic Writers. Detroit: St. James Press, 1998, 538-539. Print. Andrew Smith has described Uncanny Stories as "an important contribution to the ghost story."Andrew Smith, Gothic Literature. Edinburgh; Edinburgh University Press, 2007, 130. Print. Publications Poetry *''Nakiketas, and other poems'' (as "Julian Sinclair"). London: Kegan Paul, Trench, 1886. *''Essays in Verse''. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1891. *''The Dark Night: A novel in unrhymed verse''. London: Cape, 1924; New York: Macmillan, 1924. Novels *''Audrey Craven''. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1897; New York: Holt, 1906. *''Mr and Mrs Nevill Tyson''. Edinburgh & London: Blackwood, 1898 **published in U.S. as The Tysons. New York: Grossett & Dunlap, 1906. *''The Divine Fire. London: Constable, 1904; New York: Holt, 1904; Toronto: William Briggs, 1904. *Superseded. New York: Holt, 1906. *The Helpmate. London: Constable 1907; New York: Holt, 1907; Toronto: Copp Clark, 1907. *''Kitty Tailleur. London: Constable, 1908 **published in U.S. as The Immortal Moment: The story of Kitty Tailleur. New York: Doublday, Page, 1908. *''The Creators: A comedy. London: Constable, 1910; New York: Century, 1910; Toronto: Copp Clark, 1910. *''The Flaw in the Crystal. New York: Dutton, 1912. *''The Combined Maze. London: Hutchinson, 1913; New York: Harper, 1913. *''The Three Sisters. London: Hutchinston, 1914; New York: Macmillan, 1914. *''Tasker Jevons: The Real Story''. London: Hutchinson, 1916. **published in U.S. as The Belfry. New York: Macmillan, 1916; New York: Boni & Liveright, 1916. *''The Tree of Heaven. London: Cassell, 1917; New York: Macmillan, 1917. *Mary Olivier: A life. London: Cassell, 1919; New York: Macmillan, 1919. *The Romantic. London: Collins, 1920; New York: Macmillan, 1920. *Mr. Waddington of Wyck. London: Cassell, 1921; New York: Macmillan, 1921. *Life and Death of Harriett Frean. London: Collins, 1922; New York: Macmillan, 1922. *Anne Severn and the Fieldings. London: Hutchinson, 1922; New York: Macmillan, 1922. *''A Cure of Souls. London: Hutchinson, 1924; New York: Macmillan, 1924. *''Arnold Waterlow''. London: Hutchinson, 1924; New York: Macmillan, 1924. *''The Dark Night''. London: Cape, 1924; New York: Macmillan, 1924. *''The Rector of Wyck''. London: Hutchinson, 1925; New York: Macmillan, 1925. *''Far End''. London: Hutchinson, 1926; New York: Macmillan, 1926. *''The Allinghams''. London: Hutchinson, 1927; New York: Macmillan, 1927. *''History of Anthony Waring''. London: Hutchinson, 1927; New York: Macmillan, 1927. *''Fame''. London: Elkin Mathews & Marrot, 1929. Short fiction *''Two Sides Of A Question. Westminster: Constable, 1901; London: Hutchinston, 1901; New York: J.F. Taylor, 1901. *The Judgment of Eve, and other stories. New York & London: Harper, 1907; London: Hutchinson, 1914. *The Return of the Prodigal. New York: Macmillan, 1914. *''Uncanny Stories. London: Hutchinson, 1923; New York: Macmillan, 1923. *''Tales Told by Simpson''. London: Hutchinson, 1930; New York: Macmillan, 1930; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1971. *''The Intercessor, and other stories''. London: Hutchinson, 1931; New York: Macmillan, 1932; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1970. Non-fiction *''The Three Brontës. London: Hutchinson, 1912; Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1912. *''Feminism (pamphlet). London: Women Writers’ Suffrage League, 1912. *''A Journal of Impressions in Belgium. London: Hutchinson, 1915; New York: Macmillan, 1915. *A Defense of Idealism : Some questions and conclusions. London & New York: Macmillan, 1917. *The New Idealism. London & New York: Macmillan, 1922. Translated *Rudolph Sohm, ''Outlines of Church History. London: Macmillan, 1895; Boston: Beacon Press, 1958. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy the May Sinclair Society,Works, The May Sinclair Society. Web, Aug. 18, 2016. and WorldCat.Search results = au:May Sinclair, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Aug. 18, 2016. See also *List of British poets References *Theophilus Ernest Martin Boll (1973) Miss May Sinclair: Novelist; A Biographical and Critical Introduction *Suzanne Raitt (2000) May Sinclair: A Modern Victorian *George M. Johnson (2006) "May Sinclair: The Evolution of a Psychological Novelist" in Dynamic Psychology in Modern British Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. pp. 101–143. Notes External links ;Poems *"Field Ambulance in Retreat" *May Sinclair at AllPoetry (2 poems) *May Sinclair at PoemHunter (3 poems) ;Books * ;About *May Sinclair 1863-1946 at the Poetry Foundation *‘Stream of Consciousness’, Drama, and Reality ;Etc. *May Sinclair Society Official website Encyclopedia]]'' Category:1863 births Category:1946 deaths Category:English women poets Category:Ghost story writers Category:English short story writers Category:English feminists Category:People from Birkenhead Category:British women in World War I Category:Women short story writers